X'mas

OK I am not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas but I did celebrated the food associated with the religious holiday last night. I managed to get the house clean in time before the guests arrived (I started cleaning the house 5 days before the party. The house was a total mess...Its hard cleaning up after a slob of a brother who has no regard for cleanliness or order. Falling sick days before the party from the lack of sleep didn't help either. Nor did handling the pre-holiday rush at work and having to plan the office party make things any easier. But I lived to see the day.

I was up early on Christmas day, half panicking and wondering if the whole thing would be a disaster. Syareena and Rehan were the first to arrive with Syareena's mum's oven and ingredients for the tiramisu that they prepared at my place. Apart from the turkey I also prepared chocolate truffles, though I hadn't had enough time to shape and coat them in cocoa powder(but have Sheila to thank for helping me with that). Herda came next and assisted me in making the turkey dressing and also prepared some pretty salmon rolls with cream cheese and coriander.

There were starters of a topshell salsa with nachos which I think went well with almost everyone followed by Herda's salmon rolls. I think i tried to do to much in one night....cleaning, cooking, lighting tea lights, checking on the food, mulling wine... but did get by with a little help from everyone. Guhan helped set the table though there was a slight crisis when we realised we were short on cutlery. We did get some from digging the drawers and found some airline cutlery that my dad is famous for nicking off flights. Then there was a temporary chair crisis but that too was quickly rectified. Arthur dressed the table and it really looked like quite a chi-chi affair whilst ironically drinking from plastic cups.

But I think things turned out pretty well.... the turkey was moist and flavourful and Syareena's cornbread, Syereen's full cream milk mash, Shan's shepherd's pie and Rehan's tiramisu were all a hit. I was never a fan of tiramisu, but what they whipped up was not like any that I have had before. It usually tasted too strong of alcohol or runny but theirs seemed perfect. Fan Fan brought some freshly made strawberry sauce that she intended to serve with a bottle of low-cost champagne but was instead used as an excellent substitute for cranberry sauce. I could not really taste all the food on my plate. There was just too much and I was really tired. But I could tell that it all tasted home made and good. Playful banter and laughs dotted dinner time conversation though I was pretty tired from cutting the turkey. After dinner we sat around and had tiramisu and contreau. I must say that the meal was pretty much a success. I wonder if I have achieved Martha Stewart status yet....

Further into the night Syareena saw what looked like a dead cat in the middle of the road. Fan Fan and Shan went down to investigate and when they came back, Fan Fan concluded that it was "a piece of hard object". Go figure.

Myth busters at work.